Pages

Monday, June 28, 2010

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy: Dane Iorg

Yankees 8, Dodgers 6 (10). Sunday's game was a strange one for me as a Yankees fan. I went through a wide range of emot...anger and object-throwing as LA basically took a five-run lead on bunts and a home run by Ronnie Belliard. Not a pleasant beginning of the night in the Derwood bunker. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw pitched well-7 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB-and a 6-2 deficit in the ninth looked like a 10-2 deficit with the way the Yankees had been hitting and with Jonathan Broxton (no runs allowed in last 14 appearances) sweating on the mound. But then it happened. After Mark Teixeira struck out looking on ball two, Alex singled and Robbie Cano doubled, 6-3. Jorge Posada followed with one of the best at bats I've seen him have in a long time-fouled off pitches and didn't bite on pitches Jorge usually bites on-singling to right to chase Cano to third. Curtis Granderson polishes off another great at bat with a walk and the bases are loaded. What followed made me feel like a proud father whose sons were all raised by different men and then started pro baseball careers and whom I've never actually met. Rookie Chad Huffman served a 1-1 pitch into right field to score two and cut the lead to 6-5, then fellow rookie Colin Curtis had the best at bat of the night, capping a 10-pitch trip that included four straight stay-alive foul balls with a 3-2 count, with an RBI-groundout to first. 6-6. Any fan who didn't have the MUTE button on all game could hear the air being sucked out of half-empty Dodger Stadium. Mariano Rivera pitched two scoreless innings, half of the LA team was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, Cano launched a two-run home run off George Sherrill's goatee in the 10th, and the Yankees secured one of the more satisfying victories I've witnessed in 30 years as a fan. Now, what happened to that hole puncher I destroyed in the 3rd?

Oh, I'm sorry, were other games played Sunday?

Royals 10, Cardinals 3. What the hell is going on in Kansas City these days? Bruce Chen allows two earned runs in five innings for the win, Crazy Kyle Farnsworth throws two shutout frames and Wilson Betemit homers and drives in three as the Royals win a series against St. Louis. Silly times.

Rangers 10, Astros 1. Can you put in a request to play Houston or is the schedule already set in advance? Texas stayed hot, winning its 16th in 18 games, and Josh Hamilton continued his torrid run. The left fielder hit the second longest home run in the history of the Ballpark at Arlington, and during his current 21-game hitting streak, he's hitting .465 with nine home runs.

Orioles 4, Nationals 3. Somebody break up the Baltimore Orioles! That wasn't a contraction joke. Baltimore had its third consecutive come-from-behind victory against Washington and won its fourth consecutive game. Parade scheduled for Tuesday morning. How many times a day do you think Jim Riggleman thanks Stephen Strasburg for being alive, 500? Because without Strasburg, Riggleman would be managing the Medferd Bobcats, a fictional team I just made up.